We are a family-run business with an
illustrious past stretching back to 1897.

I believe the business has remained
consistently true to the principles of its founding fathers by
providing a professional and prompt service to our valued customers.
From the day it was founded in 1897 by Messrs Bridger and Kay their
objective was to serve the philatelic community as best they could.
Although times have changed our objectives have not! As a tightly
knit family business you can expect the best service and customer
care from us. Basic family values of trust, respect and care are the
core reasons we continue to trade so successfully for over a hundred
years after our foundation. We would love to welcome you aboard as a
valuable member of the wider Bridger & Kay community with our shared
values of trust, respect and care.

My team and I of dedicated professionals are
ready to serve you in whatever way we can in helping to
build your collection. Please ask - nothing is too small or too big
for us.

Steve Ellis

Managing Director

Bridger & Kay
Ltd - Brief History

Bridger & Kay was established in 1897 by
Mr Ernest James Bridger and Mr Alexander Berridge Kay who ran the
business from 65 Bishopsgate in
London. It moved to
71 Fleet Street
in 1907 then to 170 Strand in
1922 after purchasing the premises from the dealer Hugo
Griebert. In 1938 it moved premises again to 86
Strand. Mr E. J. Bridger retired during the 1914-18
War from being actively involved with the company but remained
on as a director and the business was carried on by A.B. Kay who
was a member of the BPA Expert Committee and Secretary of the
Fiscal Philatelic Society from 1902 to 1920. His collection of
British Colonial revenue stamps was given to the nation in 1940
and is now one of the Philatelic Collections held at The British
Library in London.
After the death in 1944 of A.B. Kay the company was owned and
run by Mr. Leverton and his son Allan. Bridger & Kay held their
first public auction in 1969 under the banner of Temple Bar
Auctions and continued to hold two sales every year over the
next twenty years which included the fabulous Commonwealth
collection of R.E. Darnton held in 1980 & 1981 and the superb
George Ulrich collection of Bermuda
in 1989. The company published many books over the years
including its own FiveReignsCommonwealth catalogue and
The Commonwealth Catalogue specialising in the stamps from the
reign of King George VI. The company made its final move in
London
from the Strand to 24 Pall Mall
in 1977. In its centenary year in 1997 the company was bought by
stamp dealer Steve Ellis and moved to
Bristol
in the South West of England. Steve has been a full time stamp
dealer since 1980 and started collecting stamps as a school boy
in 1959. His present interests include collecting Philatelic
Literature, walking and keeping fit. Steve was
formerly a PE teacher who played volleyball for England from
1970-73 and is widowed with four children and six
grandchildren.

Above: Photo of Mr. Alexander Kay

Bridger & Kay
Ltd - Previous holder of The Royal Warrant

The
company was one of only three stamp dealers to hold The Royal
Warrant as suppliers to The Royal Philatelic Collection.

Left: Letter from
BuckinghamPalace to Mr. Leverton
regarding a Northern Rhodesian stamp variety that had been sent
to Sir John Wilson on approval for the Royal Collection.
Sir John Wilson was “Keeper“ of the Royal Philatelic Collection from
1938-1969.

“Private 9th July 1964Dear Leverton,Thank you for
letting me see the Northern Rhodesia variety without value. The
policy at the present time does not include the purchase of
errors of this kind and so I am returning the item with regret.
Yours sincerely,John Wilson“

Above: A copy from Bridger & Kay's
original accounts showing the entry for the sale of the mint
Penny Red Plate 77 to Sir Edward Denny Bacon (Keeper of the
Royal Collection) on 8th August 1918.

Brief History of PLATE 77

To date only four mint and five used
examples have been reported, although some have not been seen
for so long their authenticity is unconfirmed and often doubted.
Of the mint examples, there is one in the Royal Philatelic
collection, one in the Tapling collection in the British
Library, one in the Raphael collection that was stolen in 1965
and has not been seen since, and the fourth was in the Ferrary
collection sold in the 1920's. Flaws in plate number 77 meant
the stamp's perforations were lined up incorrectly, so all of
the test sheets were destroyed. At least one sheet was released
into circulation by mistake. In today's market a mint copy would
be worth one million pounds plus!

Above: Penny Red PLATE 77 Lettered "AB"
sold by Bridger & Kay to King George V in 1918. It was bought
from Bridger & Kay on 8th August 1918 for a price of £499 and 9
Shillings. This copy shows the Large Crown watermark very
slightly high of centre and slightly left of centre when viewed
from the back. The top perforations are scissor-cut in a sloping
fashion.

Left: Original Bridger & Kay Account
Book containing the entry for the sale of the Penny Red Plate
77.

Letters
sent to Bridger & Kay from around the world

Above: Front and back of a Prisoner Of War Letter
containing its original contents (shown right) dated
22nd March 1917 from Prisoner 5194 “E. Duffner”
and addressed to Bridger & Kay, 71 Fleet Street,
London E.C. 4.from P.O.W. to Bridger
& Kay, 71 Fleet Street, London.

"Knockaloe I.O.M. 22.3.17Sirs.Will you kindly send me a copy of your
Price list of British & Colonial Stamps, also B. & K.s Items
(a supplement to the price list). At the same time I wish to
know if Indian Court Fee stamps from 1 to 1000 Rupees are of
any value and if of any use to you as well as some Indian
Specimen stamps 1870 – 80.
Thanks…..
I ..... ours truly,
E. Duffner
(Care … Wellfield Rd
Streatham)Present address on back.(P.S.) Sorry I can
not order any stamps of you at present.”

Knockaloe Internment Camp was opened
in late 1914 (closed in 1919) and was based on the Isle of Man.
It was a Civilian Camp consisting of 23 compounds on a 22 acre
site and was located not too far from Peel. By the end of the
war the camp was capable of holding up to 20,000 prisoners at
any one time.

Below is the first issue of "B. & K.
Items", a circular which was issued free as a supplement to the
company's Price List of British Colonial Stamps. Of note in this
issue is a section on Page 3 of "Rare and Interesting Stamps"
regarding high value stamps from British Central Africa (Nyasaland).
At the time of publication of this circular Bridger & Kay had
for sale mint copies of the RARE 1896 Watermark CC £10 and £25
values. The £10 (Gibbons # 41) was listed for sale in this
circular at £21 (Now catalogued in 2016 at £11,000) and the £25
(Gibbons # 42) at £60 (Now catalogued in 2016 at £26,000)!!

King
George VI Price List - Circa 1950

Bridger & Kay
Stamp Certificate (1959)

Bridger
& Kay Ltd - Cheques
paid to the company

Oswald Marsh was a stamp dealer from around
1900 until his death in 1951 specialising in new issues from the
British Empire and control blocks from
Great Britain. He also
purchased the firm of Errington & Martin who manufactured stamp
albums and binders as well as supplying stamp packets to dealers
and shops like Woolworths.

29th November 1919 - Paid to Mr. A. B. Kay for the amount of
£185-0-0.

11th March 1933 - Paid to Bridger & Kay for the amount of
£4-7-6.

Temple
Bar

Above: A drawing of
Temple Bar in 1870.

Its name derives from the Temple Church, adjoining to the south,
which has given its name to a wider area south of Fleet Street,
the Temple, once belonging to the Knights Templar but now home
to two of the legal profession's Inns of Court.

In the Middle Ages the authority of the City of London
Corporation reached beyond the City's ancient defensive walls in
several places, known as the Liberties of London. To regulate
trade into the City, barriers were erected on the major entrance
routes wherever the true boundary was a substantial distance
from the nearest ancient gatehouse in the walls. Temple Bar was
the most used of these, since traffic between the City of London
(England's prime commercial centre) and the Palace of
Westminster (the political centre) passed through it. It was
originally located where Fleet Street now meets The Strand,
which was actually outside the London boundary wall.

Temple Bar was the principal ceremonial entrance to the City of
London on its western side from the City of Westminster. It is
situated on the historic royal ceremonial route from the Tower
of London to the Palace of Westminster, the two chief residences
of the mediaeval English monarchs, and from the Palace of
Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral.